On another note, I used to love helping my parents decorate our old house when we lived in Buffalo. It was a small house, but we lived on a street full of families with kids. In Buffalo, there are a lot of old-style block neighborhoods, and all the roads are flat, complete with sidewalks. And I mean this is everywhere. You could go from one end of town to another if you wanted. This meant trick-r-treating was the best I have ever seen. All the houses were decorated, everyone had pumpkins and lights, it made the night so magical. My parents made cardboard cut-outs for the windows and yard (we didn't have money to buy stuff) and we covered the porch with spider webs. My dad made these ghost cut-outs for each member of our family, including our dog, that were decorated to look like us, and we still have them. My mom made my costumes (and my brother's) every single year. I would pick out what I wanted, and she would buy fabric and hand sew EVERYTHING. We still have some of them! We used to run around in groups up and down the streets visiting everyone's house, getting scared by people hiding in the bushes, comparing costumes, it was great. I miss that a lot here in NC because the neighborhoods just aren't the same as what I grew up with. But because of all that, I grew to look forward to Halloween as one of my favorite times of year, and yard haunts hold a special place in my heart, no matter how small and home-made or big and fantastic a family can manage.

In Buffalo, there are a lot of old-style block neighborhoods, and all the roads are flat, complete with sidewalks. And I mean this is everywhere. You could go from one end of town to another if you wanted. This meant trick-r-treating was the best I have ever seen. All the houses were decorated, everyone had pumpkins and lights, it made the night so magical.

We were actually talking about this last year when my girls (at 16) were planning on trick-or-treating with their friends. The reality is that we don't get many kids because there is no a safe walking environment, AKA sidewalks everywhere. We went to one of the few housing developments that have full sidewalks throughout the development and people were driving in from all parts of Winston to bring the kids trick-or-treating there. I bet that if the infrastructure was a little better and there were sidewalks in all areas, like there are in NY and NJ (where I'm from), then we would have a lot more kids every year.

Plenty of sidewalks n my hood, actually every street has a sidewalk, I do know a lot of people do not turn on the porch light though, maybe I can start a campaign to get people to hand out candy, even if its for like an hour on Halloween...

That sounds kind of like my neighborhood, Karma, minus the sidewalks. We don't have the sidewalks, but it's a very safe neighborhood, but there are a lot of older folks around here, and they don't turn their lights on. They all say how much they like my decorations, but they still don't get into Halloween.

I found a dvd we bought a couple years ago, from party city I think... but anyway it's called X-treme haunted house make-over. It mainly is focused on yard haunts & how to take household items, or items you could find at wally world or S-lowes to make you house the spot in your hood for Halloween. Some of you guys should check it out. The $1.00 painters plastic & leafblower is my favorite gimmick. If any of you find it let me know what you think. Slaughter.

We decorate the yard and our garage every year. Luckily we live in a neighborhood with sidewalks, so we get plenty of foot traffic. I usually invite a friend over to help me pack Halloween goody bags...last year we made 300 and ran out! It helps me know the numbers coming through. We are probably the most decorated house, but there are at least 2 or 3 others who decorate on a pretty big scale. Does anyone else have a problem with storage of props?

Anyone seen any decorated yards yet?? I've seen one on the back-roads, in the King area, but that is all. I know of a few in Winston that I try to hit before Halloween, but its a shame you don't see more.

My yard is about 1/4 to 1/3 done.....that rain SUCKED. I've got prolly 750 lights up, some hanging props, and 1 tombstone out. When things dry out a half dozen more tombstones, a fogger, two animatronics and some other battery powered things have to go out. I love putting things together but hate that I get 2-6 trick or treaters total.

Feel free to share where you see decorated houses / lawns. I went to see one last week (neighbor of a work associate). Very impressive! There's usually a house on Hawthorne in W-S that goes all out....I feel honored when the pizza guy tells me mine is the second best he's seen !